Page 36 of Claimed By her Alien Prince

Necklaces, bracelets, anklets, earrings, and so on were laid out on black, velvety pillows, lighting from shelves above made the gold look even deeper and the gems twinkle.

I didn't expect one of the bracelets to have a stamp like the gold on Earth, but I had enough experience to see that this gold was the purest I had ever touched.

"You like?" Seth asked standing behind me, placing his hands around my waist, bending low so he could breathe into my ear.

"It's all very beautiful," I said.

"But?"

I turned and lifted my head to look at him. "It means nothing."

His head lowered and his lips met mine. "Lilith."

I slung my arms around his neck, carelessly dropping the bracelet I had been holding to the ground. I meant what I said, none of this meant anything to me. There was only him and me, and nothing else mattered. And that thought frightened me, because I knew deep in my heart that I would do anything to keep it that way. Anything.

IsensedthatLilithhad her misgivings. Still, when she stepped out of the closet, she was a goddess. Her long, wavy hair was held back by golden combs on one side, exposing her elegant neck just the way I liked it on the other. A long earring dangled down that side of her neck, teasing me as it caressed her throat delectably. I imagined its twin hung on her other ear, but it was hidden by her thick, red hair.

Her black dress was deeply cut, with golden clasps holding the material in place to not expose her exquisite breasts. More golden clasps held the dress over her shoulders, and a golden belt fell like a V, accentuating her small waist and wide hips.

The dress ran all the way down her legs, but long slits on both sides allowed her to move about freely.

Golden arm rings circled down her upper arms, giving the illusion of a golden snake clinging to her skin. She must have observed the other noble ladies yesterday, because she had copied their style perfectly, even improved it.

While she had gotten dressed, I had done the same in my walk in closet, just a bit faster than her. My adornments were a sword by my hip, a dagger on the other side, and thick golden arm rings around my biceps, proclaiming my status as a prince.

I held out my elbow and she put her fragile hand on it as we walked together out of our chambers. I noticed her staring at the walls. I had grown up on theAsphodel, the walls were nothing new to me, but I imagined to somebody who hadn't seen them before they would be quite intimidating.

They depicted scenes of our interpretation of hell, probably to make us feel better that the hell we were living in wasn't quite as bad as the one depicted. Still, I had never found consolation in that. As a matter of fact, I would have rather fought a million demons and the devil himself than to be stuck on this ship to repeat the same quest my father had gone through and his father before that, going back I don't know how many thousands upon thousands of years.

The large, arched doorway to the throne hall was guarded by four of my father's gargoyle handlers and their despicable creatures. One hissed at Lilith and I kicked the creature back, giving its handler a scathing glare.

"If you can't control it, it needs to be exchanged," I snarled.

"Yes, my prince. I beg your forgiveness, it's new. Just out of training."

"Don't let it happen again."

"These things are killing humans by the thousands," Lilith said sadly.

"I know," I replied just as disturbed by what my father had ordered as her.

Our attention turned when we entered the throne room, where the King and Queen of Darkness sat on their raised thrones, while in a half circle at the bottom of the stairs stood my brothers with their chosen mates. Except Balaam, who was flanked by two beauties, Dina and Sara if my memory served.

I led Lilith to the end of the group, and we fell in line.

"Ah, I see Seth and his lovely Lilith finally deigned to join us. I hope you two spent a pleasant night?" Behlial smirked.

Next to me Lilith's face flamed, and I clenched my jaw. Behlial was baiting me. I wondered if he suspected something or was just being his usual unpleasant self. He better watch out though, because he should know he could only push me so far.

"Don't look so flustered, Seth. Your temper is as short as your sire's was." He laughed maniacally, and, as always when he mentioned my sire, my skin rippled in disgust for Behlial.

I had only seen my sire once, when I was very young. I wasn't supposed to, the boys were housed in a different part of the ship than the princes, but our tutor had just told us about our fate in life and why we were here—to kill each other—so I had been curious.

For so long, I had thought Behlial was my father and Ishtar my mother—which they were for all intents and purposes, they just weren't our biological parents.

Since the seven sons were supposed to produce sons and kill each other during that part of our journey and the chosen maidens had fulfilled their roles, it was more practical for Behlial and Ishtar to raise us than our biological parents, or so we were told.

From the moment I was able to form a coherent thought, I had always hated Behlial, and once our tutor had informed us about the real relationships aboard theAsphodel, I became curious. I wanted to see the seven princes, or whoever was left of them, and maybe even the maidens. Mostly, I wanted to see my father—my real father.

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